What was the golden knight?

Created by the first Vale family head, it was a technique that allowed him to match the monsters of his time.

Although not a Transcendent rank, the golden knight allowed an Ascended rank to match one even if only in SE control.

Aleric had been an Ascended at the peak of his era, powerful by any reasonable standard, yet utterly outclassed by Transcendent beings.

He learned that truth the hard way during the war to drive back the Eclipsed, when he faced a Tier 5 entity and survived only because someone else died buying him time.

It was then that he came to a realization which he had been avoiding, compared to those monsters, he was dead weight.

He understood then that no amount of raw SE would let an Ascended cross that gap. The difference wasn't power, it was control.

So he built a technique that didn't increase SE, but perfected its usage.

The Golden Knight condensed every ounce of an solar knight's SE into a single circulating system, wrapping the body in a self-sustaining flow that mimicked the stability of a Transcendent core.

The result was a manifestation often mistaken for armor.

In truth, it was SE given form.

The golden knight technique made the most out of the user's SE, turning every bit of waste into power.

Through that, the user could temporarily gain a boost that would push them to the next rank, hence the reason Aleric was able to fight alongside Transcendent ranks like Headmistress Aurielle.

And he was actually able to hold his own.

***

After Aleric's death, the Vale family tried to turn the Golden Knight into an inheritance technique.

They failed.

The Golden Knight was not a technique that could be passed down....or rather, there was no comprehensive guide detailing how it could be achieved.

All they knew was that it could only be achieved by gaining the same understanding the Vale family head did during his era.

Over generations, it became a symbol of the Vale ideal rather than a common practice, mastered only by rare prodigies…

Until today, someone considered a failure by his own family had achieved a technique even some geniuses couldn't.

And it was done through hard work and pure desperation.

Yet, none of the Vales had been willing to come and watch this achievement, instead they'd rather focus on the upcoming prodigy, Silas Vale, who they were sure had the highest chance of learning the technique.

After all, he had already manifested the first stage at just age fourteen.

Five years younger than Rhett.

"Damn that's cool," Devon muttered as he watched the armor form around Rhett.

Nox agreed as he looked at it, the technique seemed similar to the way he could freely control and shape SE, but Rhett seemed to have some sort of activation button?

No, it wasn't a button..or maybe it was.

Similar to pressure point technique, Rhett had developed a way to easily activate the golden knight armor since other ways would take time.

By putting a bit of pressure on the SE pathways closest to his core, he gives a signal to the core to activate the technique.

Back in the arena, Flint looked at Rhett's radiant form, but instead of a frown or caution, a smile slowly appeared on his face.

He believed that strength spoke the loudest, and this form before him, held a great amount of strength.

Well, he was just happy that he would get the chance to properly vent before his opponent passes out.

"I apologize, friend," Rhett slowly spoke, "but if I don't use this form, I'm sure I would lose."

Flint just readied his staff as he looked at his opponent, "like I said, you talk too much."

"Just come at —"

His words were cut off as his eyes widened because Rhett was suddenly in front of him with his sword swinging.

Flint reacted just in time, placing the staff between them and blocking the incoming attack.

But the impact lifted him off his feet, throwing him backwards into the barrier, causing his back to slam into it.

"Holy shit!" Someone from the crowd shouted.

"Did you see him move?" "Did his power level just increase?" "Fuck, he's fast!"

Flint caught himself the moment the touched the floor, but before he could properly regain his balance, a large golden sword was headed for his head.

Again, he lifted his staff just in time to block the attack, which sent him skidding towards the left.

Everyone watched in silence as Rhett didn't relent, chaining attack after attack, rag dolling Flint around the platform.

Flint wasn't allowed a second to regain his compsure before Rhett was upon him again, but the most fascinating part was the fact that he had managed to block every single attack aimed at him.

Cass, in the stands with Linda, narrowed his eyes as he muttered, "he's running on a timer."

"Hmm," Linda nodded in agreement, "it seems he can't keep up that form for too long."

And they were right.

Rhett had a small frown on his face as he could feel the strain of forcing himself to achieve this form slowly creep up.

But more than that, he was surprised at the fact that Flint was accurately predicting and blocking his attacks even though he was barely given time to catch his breath.

Rhett was previously at the Pinnacle of Elite rank, two ranks above Amber and two ranks below Ascended.

With the golden knight armor, he was pushed to mid Radiant rank and since Flint was only a first year, he was sure that he was Elite rank at most.

So how was he keeping up with Radiant rank attacks?

He charged in for another attack but before this one could connect, Flint disappeared, causing Rhett's sword to go through an after image.

The next second, something heavy slammed into Rhett's stomach and although the armor lessened the pain, it still pushed him all the way back.

Flint finally stood straight with a small grin on his face as he placed his staff on his shoulder before saying,

"My turn."

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